NASA Engages Baton Rouge Students for STEM Careers at LSU Space Day 2014

BATON ROUGE –More than 175 middle school students, invited from six area middle schools,
descended on the LSU campus to compete in space-themed competitions and discover space-related
college and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

“LSU Space Day provided a platform to expand students' curiosity and creativity about
the many career paths before them,” said Rick Koubek, dean, LSU College of Engineering.
“We look forward to these students one day becoming future LSU Engineers and the leaders
of tomorrow.”

Hosted by the LSU College of Engineering, LSU College of Science, Lockheed Martin,
NCAM, Jacobs Technology and NASA, LSU Space Day 2014 was designed to increase student
interest in STEM fields at a younger age and showcase opportunities to design, build
and test for NASA’s next space exploration.

“LSU Space Day is a fun way to ignite students’ interest in STEM disciplines and expose
them to the programs at LSU in these areas,” said Guillermo Ferreyra, interim dean,
LSU College of Science. “Science drives innovation and economic growth. To increase
the number and quality of students enrolling in and completing STEM programs at LSU
we engage them earlier than high school with activities such as those offered at LSU
Space Day."

Interactive teams constructed and launched rockets using generated pressure and energy;
built and demonstrated thrust source in aircraft engines; and competed in payload
differential launches.

Each school presented a custom designed Orion mission patch, as astronaut crews do
for their missions. The winning patch design will fly on the first Orion test flight
in December, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1).

“NASA has maintained a great tradition of building spaceflight hardware at the Michoud
Assembly Facility and multiple generations of Louisiana citizens and LSU alumni have
played key roles in the United States' space flight endeavors,” said Patrick Scheuermann,
Director of Marshall Space Flight Center. “NASA continues to make rapid progress on
both the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. LSU students and alumni
have a great opportunity to lend their talents in furthering NASA's bold mission of
exploring past the moon and deep into our Solar System.”